For more than two decades the Sunland Baobab in Limpopo, South Africa, was famous for a pub inside its trunk. Doug and Heather Van Heerden opened the bar in 1993 in the hollow heart of one of the largest baobabs in Africa, until the giant tree split apart in 2016 and 2017.

Collage of the Sunland Baobab and the bar inside its trunk before the collapse
The Sunland Baobab and its bar before the collapse of 2016–2017. Photo: South African Tourism / Flickr

Where is the Sunland Baobab?

The tree stands on Sunland Farm, also called Platland Farm, near the small town of Modjadjiskloof (formerly Duiwelskloof) in the Mopani district of Limpopo Province, northern South Africa. Modjadjiskloof lies 18 km north of Tzaneen, and the farm is reached along a dirt track.

It is an African baobab, Adansonia digitata. Before it began to collapse it was about 22 m (72 ft) tall, with a trunk circumference of around 47 m and a crown about 30 m across, making it one of the biggest baobabs on the continent.

The huge trunk and crown of the Sunland Baobab before it split
The Sunland Baobab, about 22 m tall and 47 m around, before it split.

The bar inside the tree

Many of the largest baobabs are hollow because their trunks are a ring of three to eight fused stems with a natural cavity in the middle. The Van Heerdens cleared out the hollow core of their tree and in 1993 fitted it out as a pub, with a counter made of railway sleepers, seating, draught beer and a music system. A second cavity became a wine cellar that held a steady 22 °C. As many as 60 people once crowded in for a party.

The bar drew visitors from around the world. A 2015 visit described by Roads & Kingdoms found a pine counter, dusty military memorabilia and the word "beer" spelled out in brass letters, with a R20 entrance fee and a visitors' book to sign.

Small doorway leading into the trunk of the Sunland Baobab
Visitors beside the enormous trunk and entrance of the Sunland Baobab bar
Counter and dartboard inside the Sunland Baobab pub
Wooden bar counter fitted inside the baobab's hollow trunk
Warmly lit bar beneath the irregular inner walls of the baobab
Shelves and a counter inside the Sunland Baobab
Group of visitors under the spreading branches of the Sunland Baobab

How old is the Sunland Baobab?

Headlines called it a 6,000-year-old tree, but the dating is far less certain. Baobabs have no reliable annual rings, so scientists date them by radiocarbon analysis of wood samples. One radiocarbon study estimated the age of the Sunland tree at about 1,060 years, give or take 75, which puts its germination around AD 950. Other estimates run higher, and the owners themselves spoke of at least 1,100 years.

The collapse of 2016 and 2017

In August 2016 about a third of the tree broke away. A second major split in 2017 destroyed the bar, and most of the tree's stems died over those two years. The owners decided to leave the fallen sections where they lay and let nature reshape them. In March 2019 the Van Heerdens announced that the tree and pub were closed to the public permanently.

Sunland was not alone. In 2018 a team led by Adrian Patrut published The demise of the largest and oldest African baobabs in Nature Plants, reporting that nine of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest baobabs they had studied had died, or lost their oldest parts, over the previous 12 years. The cause is still being investigated.

Where to see baobabs in Limpopo today

In South Africa the African baobab grows naturally only in the far north of Limpopo, mostly north of the Soutpansberg range, and it is a protected tree. Other famous giants include the Sagole Baobab near Tshipise, the Big Tree in the Blouberg Nature Reserve, and the Kumana and Briscoe's baobabs in Kruger National Park.

Baobabs stand leafless for about eight months of the year to save water. Their large white flowers open in the late afternoon and last only a single night, so a summer evening visit gives the best chance of seeing them.

For more remarkable trees, see our Angel Oak guide to South Carolina's famous live oak, and the colourful bark of rainbow eucalyptus.

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